Out Standing
by Her Head In the Clouds
Summary: We can understand many things. But some things, are well beyond our comprehension. Lex? She understands that too, especially when it seems to be beyond our world... AU Post-flim.
1. Chapter 1

_A/n: ~Hey readers! I got the idea right after watching AvP the other night on the Space Channel._

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><p><strong><em>Out Standing<br>_**  
><em><strong>July 12, 2011<strong>_

_**by: Her Head in the Clouds**_

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><p>She didn't hear any words, no verbal recognition of any kind. Just constant clicking and hissing noises for the entire past twenty minutes of the flight.<p>

She'd raise an eyebrow in scepticism whenever any of them would turn down to stare at her, but as long as they didn't shove or touch her, or if Scar remained at his post respectably beside her, she was content.

And it wasn't to say she was afraid of what was transpiring around her (she'd been through hell and back just less than an hour ago). More so, she was just plain curious and the high-risk expeditionary in her remained forever alert.

Alexa understood when the head-hunter (as she could only guess by his chiefly red cape and girdled appearance) approached her with the offering of his warrior staff - it was a sign of honour and gratitude. Then, she easily understood when she watched the other hunters come around Scar (she innocently gave him that name for her own interests, remembering his mark) and lifted his body on the stretcher and carried him back onto the ship - he was dead, but he was still a fellow warrior and member of their clan, and they needed to bring him home. But what she hadn't, _couldn't_ understand was when the Chief Hunter, who had been the last to enter the ship, turned around before he entered and beckoned her follow in with the roll of his shoulder and a loud click of his mandibles.

Alexa stood in stock fear.

"What?" she had asked more to herself than the head predator. At the time, it seemed like the only appropriate response.

Even now as she stood in the alien ship at this moment remembering _that_ moment, it still hadn't sunk in with her. She had agreed after a few more minutes of hesitating and impatient calling by the leader and before she knew it she was knowingly pulled several, what scientists called, 'light years' away from Earth.

Alexa was on alert but not completely pulled apart from her surroundings as she stood among the other predators. Scar had returned to rest of the group after several minutes away, probably getting patched up in their medical bay because he had a long black synthetic like fabric around the gaping wound Alexa had remembered him getting.

He had looked dead to her when she kneeled beside him in what she thought were his final moments. Perhaps she forgot to realize that these aliens had much different anatomy from humans and they could probably withstand a lot more than she. Maybe he had only went into comatose or a hibernate state in that moment after the Alien queen was dragged away, and she vaguely wondered about what had happened to the other two hunters that were with him...then suddenly remembering the detonation bomb and the gaping hole where the pyramid once rested made that thought, and any thought of her fallen team, fly bitterly from her mind.

Space was black as she stared beyond the glass standing beside Scar. She found that space was a lot more black and empty than they perceived it to be on Earth. He clicked his mandibles quietly as he silently observed her reactions to the view. He, along with the rest of his comrades, knew that this was the first a human had ever been or seen beyond their own solar system. Space just looked so empty to her. No words could describe how incredibly cold she felt just staring beyond the ship's window. It was much more than they could ever say or put on paper...

After what seemed like an hour, Alexa found herself asleep, slumped on a wall near the window, her arms around her slender form for warmth, clutching the retractable staff the chief had given her in her tight fist. She didn't know where they were taking her. But she had a good feeling they would return her home, so her energy needed replenishing.

As she slept, the predators clicked and hissed around her, unbeknownst to her sleeping figure, talking amongst themselves.

'Why bring The Weaker?' they conversed.

'No, not weak. Strong this one is.' Scar nodded his head to agree with his chief.

'Killed The Mother,' he replied. 'Brave heart, cunning mind.'

'We will return this one, after one trip,' the chief stated then turned and walked out of the hangar. The others followed suit, except for Scar who was given the responsibility to stand watch over her.

His helmet scanner was back on his face, the mark of his first kill still freshly seared into the forehead. New armor adorned his chest as with new weapons. He took in the profile of Alexa, clicking and hissing as he read her bio-scans.

He was fascinated by the human's biology. A red life stream, instead of green, a strange set of ribs, and a wide pelvis, small muscles and an even smaller brain. But the heart, only one and it pumped so very fast even as it looked like she had entered a dormant state. Was the human healing herself, he wondered? He magnified his scanner 12000X and switched to infrared. Tiny cells ran through her body, clustering by the thousandths around her cuts and scrapes. It was safe to say that the human was repairing, but at a very slow rate. These humans, such a slow and primitive race they still were. But very brave, and Scar and his clan admired that.

Alexa breathed deeply, in and out, before finally opening her eyes and looking around her. The rest of the hunters were gone except for Scar, who was busy pressing buttons on his new detonator pack. She turned her head to look out the window once more. She had never said a word since boarding the ship, deciding it was unecessary when any form of communication between them would seem intolerable. He understood her silence. She respected his space. They were fine. But Lex felt a little discouraged assuming that due the alien's biology, he might instantly be male. Perhaps the predators were female and she could figure it out through watching their behavioural patterns or something...but then the ship's window to her right began to light up.

The sight caught her breath; this was not her solar system anymore.

As she rose to get up on her knees, Scar eyed her and took a step toward her before he realized what she was focused on. He turned his large frame to face the window and stared out into the view of this galaxy they had entered.

Stars and nebulas of orange and green, and poisonous yellow and dark brown clusters of moons stretched on forever. And circular bodies that looked like something out a bad Space movie exploded in her eyes.

Alexa didn't have any words. If this was the galaxy that Scar and his species came from, she wasn't that all surprised. It suited his nature and why they dressed as such. Although she inwardly wished they had done something about the colour scheme if their ship.

But at least for the remaining time she had left with this hunter and his highly advanced star cruiser, she had been worthy to see it all…!

Lex jolted awake.

Her body went rigid as she took a look around her bedroom in the dark, trying to remember where she was, and where she wasn't.

After a few more seconds of deep breathing, she pulled her head up slowly from the pillows in an attempt to ease her dizziness. It failed, as a large wave of dull pain ringed her brain and she went bending forward into the sheets.

"Another one?" she whispered slowly. "_Damn._"

It started a month ago, the dreams. She thought maybe it was normal for anyone who went through such a devastating event, to see flashes and images in their sleep of things that could've been and should've.

But it was the same scene replaying every night. And the scenes got longer. Looking out into the predators' space from their spaceship was the farthest she'd gone in her dreams – the thought did little to comfort her. The ship, the predators, understanding their conversation. The new solar system... Remembering all those vibrant and sickly yellowing stars and smoggy-looking air pockets around the oval-shaped planets…it seemed too real.

"It always seems too real."

Lex tightened her lips, blinking through the morning eye crust in her eyelids. She stared across the small room to where the small drawer sat. She knew inside the last shelf, the retractable warrior staff lay snug between two towels – it was all she could use until she bought something better.

Lex stared intently on the shelf's handle, thinking about the incredible weapon beyond it. If she was honest with herself (as she usually was, being so mature and decisive about her actions all her life), she had always felt a strange energy come off the staff. Especially when she went to sleep at night.

The dreams were getting stronger, getting more real, and putting itself in a pattern she couldn't decode.

…Or could she…?

She squeezed the folds of her bed sheets, feeling a strange sensation of fear and adrenaline wash over her, much too early for 5:37 in the morning.

Whatever this all meant, the weapon had something to do with all of it. And it looked like it wasn't going to stop until she figured it all out.

She just wish she had more time than she increasingly began to feel.

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><p><em>I know it doesn't have much of a plot, and the end kinda sounded incomplete but I wanted to get an idea across and I kind of liked the outcome of it. I don't have a second chapter ready because this is where I wanted end it, but if you have any suggestions or want to read more give me a comment and we'll see what I can do! Sorry if I miss any spelling errors. Anyways, thanks again for the reading and until I write again, happy reading!<em>

_Much love, Abby~_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/n: ~By popular demand, this story will remain alive. There are still many kinks to work out in the plot I'm still starting to tread, but when it's gets going, you could be in for a ride you might like. This chapter is a doozy, to make up for a long overdue update. Dedications expressed to all of you who've given me the support and push to continue on with this idea. Happy scrolling!_

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><p><em><strong>Out Standing: Chapter 2<strong>_

_**July 28, 2011**_

_**by: Her Head in the Clouds**_

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><p>"I'm telling you! <em>Too<em> much sun is bad for that boy! And you think he listens? …And WHO keeps telling him? Who? Mhmm, I _know_ he don't think I'm playing and yet he-!"

Lex genuinely laughed for the fifth time in the past twenty minutes that she'd been on the phone with her cousin Ray. Rachel was her closest cousin (both geographically and sister-wise) who lived in Colorado. Having heard she just got back from another one of her national salsa dance competitions (and Ray having in turn heard Alexa had come back from her latest expedition in the Arctic), both cousins jumped at the chance to call one another, and Lex had managed to be the one to pick up the phone first.

"Ray, why is it that every time that I call you, you sound more and more like Thomas?"

"That ghetto stepbrother of mine in the Bronx? Don't even play me, Lexi! I can't have you ganging up on me too!" Her cousin wailed on the other end, but the amusement was still on her voice. Lex laughed again.

"What? You're running a mouth a mile!"

"Lexi…!" her cousin's voice bit back threateningly.

"Okay, okay. Sorry, hun." She smiled into the phone before repositioning herself on the couch in the living room to reach for the TV remote. "So when do I get to see you and Nate do a chimmy?"

Ray scoffed on the other end.

"Like you know what that even is. But dunno... how soon by July can you get a ticket for Aruba?"

When Lex found a seemingly good _CSI: New York_ episode on, she brought back her full attention to her cousin.

"Aruba?"

"_Mmhmmmm._ A ballroom championship we're getting ready for. It's gonna be fun!" Rachel said in a singsong voice. Lex chuckled. "White sands, hot sun... shirtless men... You must be dying for some of that with all the snow jackets you've seen over the past few..." Her words drowned out a little as Lex was reminded of the whole expedition all over again.

Lex found herself picking at the lint on her old oversized college t-shirt. Rachel seemed adamant on her coming.

"So what d'you say, Lexi huh?"

Lex chuckled. Unbeknownst to her cousin, a sad smile graced her features.

"We'll see."

"Heh, good enough of answer I'll ever get from you."

"Hey! That's a quality response!"

"Whatever, girl. Anyway I'll call you back in a bit. Nate and I are gonna go meet Chelsea at the studio for a couple. Go eat something yeah?"

Lex laughed again. That was her cousin's final line to all their conversations.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't hurt your partner! And tell him I say hi."

"Love ya, Lexi." And with a click, the line went dead.

That conversation happened weeks ago, before Lex's dreams began.

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><p>She returned this evening with an old duffel bag full of sweaty gym clothes and her car keys. In her other arm, was a large wooden chest she'd purchased from a nearby department store. It was meant for sentimentals, she meant it for something else.<p>

When Lex left all the ice, snow, Sebastian, and the other team members behind on Antarctica, she returned, sworn by government space/science agencies and affiliations that whatever had transpired between the mysterious discoveries of the ancient temple, and the even more mysterious miracle of her being the only survivor, would remain a secret that she would forever keep to her grave. She gratefully agreed and walked away from it, taking only with her the staff and strange marking on her face.

She sometimes considered if any other expedition on earth would be worth it or a terrible mistake, but she wasn't about to let a few traumatic events stop her from doing what she lived for... not even a few bad nightmares.

Sure she was stationed with another R&D company for September to lead on a new expedition in Peru, but it wasn't much anymore, compared to what she'd seen.

When it came to the apparent thought that it was already near midnight, Lex dragged herself out of her thoughts to eye the electric clock in the cable box beneath the TV.

It was 11:16.

And despite it being reasonably early for someone her age, with her athleticism, and her couple months off work until the expedition started, Lex found it was hard to keep her eyes fully open in the living room's light. She let them droop before blinking again. She shook her head and got up with a huff heading for the kitchen.

The small kitchen found little comfort from its owner. It was pristine with the preference of a monk, but she barely cooked in it and spent most of her time in the past few weeks since she'd came back, eating out or reheating frozen packages. She used to be so health-conscious, but now it suddenly didn't matter.

Reaching the cupboard beside the stove, Lex reached up silently to open the door and pulled out a bottle of a Tylenol pills. Then, she reached over the counter below and grabbed the kettle off its burner and pulled a nearby glass to her with her wrist.

"Please..." she mumbled to herself before she took a swig of cool boiled water. "Not tonight."

Then with an angry jerk, she threw the two pills down her throat and took another gulp of water.

When Lex finally got into bed after all her pre-bed routines were done, she didn't even look to her nightstand clock, shutting her eyes tightly as she got beneath the covers and prepared for sleep. She didn't dare look in the direction of her bedroom closet where the staff lay in its new place inside the wooden chest.

She knew what was coming once her body relaxed and her mind drifted off - the same dream about the Predator aliens, the solar system that wasn't her own, Scar's recovery…

What she wouldn't _kill_ for an old dream, the kind where you didn't see anything, where you flew, or where you ended up with Robert from grad school kissing face in a disco party surrounded by friends.

She missed those dreams. She wished now even more than ever as her brain began to swim, so that she could dream about Aruba's beaches, and her cousin's ballroom competition, which she sadly decided not to attend...

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><p>The air was hot and musty, and she was impossibly afraid by how thin the oxygen suddenly felt around her as she followed Scar deeper into the confines of the ship. The whole dream had replayed like it did every night – right to the point when she was looking out of the ship window and into the sickening colours of their solar system - and now she was even further into the dream following her once brief and now continuing acquaintance as he led her to a new place on the ship.<p>

Lex wouldn't call Scar a partner, companion, or friend just yet. Just because they raced Hell and back saving each other, didn't surmount to any undying gratitude or girl's space fantasy of having a relationship with a powerful alien. Lex was just that mature, or just too old for make-believe.

The interstellar ship's rooms beyond the main hangar where she slept were, ironically, what many space junkies and movie directors had perceived alien ships to be. Granted, the colour scheme was on the much darker and much more gritty side, and the metal slates created for walls and hallways, but it made her feel like she was walking within a cathedral.

Lex couldn't deny that every light, clank of Scar's boots, or fleck of chrome in the high light fixtures had her feeling that at any moment, she'd hear Spielberg's voice yell "And cut!"

The hallway was looming with ferocity; she knew that if she had never set eyes on these aliens before, Lex would still know how dangerous they were just from looking at how their ship dripped with power. The hard heads of the alien prey that had been in the pyramid, and the same one Scar had fashioned into a shield for her, lined the high ceilings, in tens, all around. Even as she stared, Alexa shivered as if she could feel the undead eyes of their prizes staring down on her, still intent on attacking her in their second lives. Scar's long and heavy strides made her walk quicker than she'd hoped but she wasn't about to start a conversation. When he was ready, the way he was when he had shown her his true face after escaping the pyramid, he would say or do something himself. She didn't need to press him when he had new weapons or that new plasma cannon loaded on his shoulder.

When they'd finally reached the destination that Scar had been adamant on getting to, Lex found another much smaller, window at the end of another hanger, assuming it was another hangar bay. Beyond it, there in full view was a planet from the new solar system.

The chief hunter stood proudly at one side of the window, currently awaiting Scar's return with the human. He trilled behind his mandibles softly as Lex came up to stand beside both of them while the other Predators in the room remained focused at their posts of work, ignoring what was transpiring between the three.

Lex kept her mouth shut, again remembering that there was no need for her to say anything on account of obvious language barriers. The planet was another sight of worth beholding and throwing all words from her lips to the wind. The planet burned with the energy of a light so bright, its turquoise coloured oceans shone like neon lights in nightclubs. The mountain caps were grey and washed of any colour that it was almost like watching an old movie from the 1930's. Beyond those details, there was nothing else appealing. It was strange planet, somewhat oval-shaped and its yellowing clouds almost concealed the plant life below. From the colour of the largest forest, Alexa suspiciously wondered if she would able to breathe down on the planet below.

"I wonder...," she whispered out loud to herself, without actually meaning to. Scar must've picked up on her voice because he stepped up beside her and forcefully pushed her shoulder until she moved on her feet closer to the window.

Alexa gasped. What was he doing? If she had learned anything from Sebastian and his interesting knowledge on watching alien behaviour, was that Scar's way of silencing her in front of a superior like the chief hunter? What he just mad, or teasing her? When she found her balance again, Lex found she was closer to the window than the two and tried to step back. Scar roared behind her, and she felt a shiver run up her spine as she froze in fear. What was she supposed to be looking at...? Her heart pounded erratically. Her eyes flicked around but she wasn't getting the immediate gist of the situation.

Alexa suddenly found herself gasping softly and trying to find breath.

Despite her efforts to appear strong in front of the Predators, this was all too much for one woman. Hadn't she paid her dues when she lost her team back inside the Pyramid? Hadn't she proven herself worthy of living by being the only human ever possible to survive an alien hunting game? Couldn't they just take her back to where they had found her and let her find her own way back home in the ice? Lex could handle many things under pressure, but even stress can have its breaking point.

Air was harder to swallow. It suddenly became painful to choke in a breath of air. Lex tried looking around the room frantically, her brain ringing with alert. Were they doing something to the air supply in the room? Lex turned on her right foot and tried to find Scar in the sudden blur of images, her knees giving out when the burn in her lungs finally became too much. Lex fell on her hands as she tried to balance herself - she was too proud to go down on the ground and curl in.

_'Remember those panic techniques! Goddamn Lex, relax!' _

Fear and quicker unconsciousness only escalates when you rush into anxiety and run out your energy. Lex had to slow down her heartbeat and try to understand what was going on. She held her breath and closed her nostrils afraid of inhaling something dangerous. As she closed her eyes and tried to shut out the world around her, the air around her face quickly became hot.

Scar roared again, realising Lex's ability to understand their alien tongue had disappeared. He was calling out to her and commanding something in an angry tone. He kept yelling, but it only continued to add more to the ringing in her brain. She couldn't even look at him, lest she throw herself off balance for lack of air. The chief's warrior staff hit the ground beside her three times, signalling the start of something to which she was not sure.

The thump it made sent shockwaves through her, making her sick almost enough to throw up bile if she didn't get oxygen soon. When the sickness started to come over her, Lex clenched her teeth tightly and squeezed her eyes shut. She doubled over ready to empty her stomach, but when she went to hit the cold metal of the ship's floor, she met dry grass instead.

Lex rolled onto her side, her body writhing and her voice whining behind her closed lips for air. The air was so hot like the sun was beating down on her. Lex took a small peak and found that sun was beaming down on her. And so was Scar, the chief hunter, and several other Predators.

Her leg jutted out beneath her in a spasm, her heart pumped wildly as her head grew cloudy. Scar roared again and suddenly reached down to grab her. When he lifted her up onto her feet, Lex couldn't stand straight as she fidgeted and grabbed at her throat desperate for someone to understand. But Scar paid no attention as he pushed her forward toward the chief hunter. Lex was going to die and none of them knew, she hadn't even made it back home and they were going to subject her to a death in a world that wasn't even her own. How cruel and selfish could they be, after everything she had done and proven?

The chief hunter opened his mandibles and screeched a call so loud, Lex was more furious than astounded. It did nothing to help her situation. Despite what Scar had done to pull her up on her feet, she sank down again on her knees and wiggled around furiously. She couldn't react when he stepped in front of her and suddenly yanked the warrior staff he had given her out of her hands. When he walked away, all Lex could do was watch through watery eyes and a numbing sensation.

In her lasts bouts of conscious, he retracted the staff to its full length and rammed it down into the ground beside him – that was when Lex realised that he wasn't standing on the ground, but standing on a plateau of stone slab. All along it ran strange markings carved into its side, and bones littered the top, bones that didn't look like they belonged to any animal on earth. His voice rang through her head, as Lex finally felt her entire being pulled into the terrifying sensation of numbness.

"_Second Test!_" he roared to her as she watched the light the sun above them grow dim and dark like a cloud cover. But she knew it wasn't.

"_Second Test!_" he repeated. "_Return the weapon! Megalith, megalith! Return and run it through!_"

Lex's eyes rolled back and her grip slackened on herself.

"_Return, do not bring shame!_"

And when Lex opened her eyes and found herself in her bedroom, she gasped and gasped for air. Her heart was on fire and her body was sticky with cold sweat.

The weapon she had placed in the box was humming loudly, its energy pulsating from inside her closet, but she couldn't stop the unbearable sensation to cry and sobbed into her pillow. The dream was over but the nightmarish feeling still remained.

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><p><em>~It's all still a little rocky but be patient! Also, I'm aware that the Yautja have their own alien language with words for 'Hard-Meats' and words like 'ooman', but I'm not going to use them since that requires more research than I want to do on a fanfiction that's meant to be a fun experiment. Also, it's all being seen from Lex's perspective and it's how she interprets the whole situation. ;) I'll return with the next chapter in some time - I've got other fics to give my attention to. But until I return, thanks for reading!<em>

_Much love, Abby~_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/n: ~Lots of love from me to you and some apologies for taking long to update! The other fics fell through the roof and I'd hoped this to be the last chapter but... eh, ideas grow. You'll see what I mean. Sorry for any mistakes. I won't keep you waiting, Happy scrollin'! ;) And careful, there are curse words now!_

_Dedications:: To all who have read and/or reviewed past chapters (you're my stars!) and to those who are as tired as I am - ya not really a personal shout-out but you'll learn to live with me, heh._

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><p><em><strong>Out Standing: Chapter 3<strong>_

_**August 17, 2011**_

_**by: Her Head in the Clouds**_

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><p>The water droplets raced each other down the window's glass as Lex tried to distract herself of her memories. The Thursday afternoon was dark and dreary as the clouds rolled into her city – it was the type of day that made for indoor recess in schools and sluggish people at work. Luckily Lex's later scheduled expedition work prevented her from being one of those people. She hated giving bad performance and less than her best at anything.<p>

'Heh, explains why I'm here right now and not just some memory in the wind,' she thought bitterly. Her mind lately always seemed to drift to Antarctica.

Her head was in the palms of her hands as she sat at her small kitchen table waiting for the kettle to click. A head-splitting headache didn't escape her all morning and she couldn't rely on Tylenol pills again. Warm tea and maybe a switch to Advil would do her better.

Lex's eyes were dry and red from lack of sleep and the fear of returning nightmares if she decided to doze off. So hot was the sun on that new planet she dreamt about, so real was the excruciating pain from a lack of imaginary oxygen. Never in her life had Lex ever experienced anything as close to affixation as that - of course, mountain summits and Arctic treks had similar high and dizzying altitudes but-!

_Click!_

As the kettle steamed, bubbled and decreased in volume, Lex sighed heavily and pulled herself up from the table. Her friend, Joe, from the same expedition sponsor had called her up for a quick meet up before he left for a Vancouver hike with wealthy benefactors; he wanted to catch up over coffee. But Lex wasn't in the right of mind and felt it wasn't fair to him if she only gave him half her attention and enthusiasm; as a resort, she kept her phone on silent and slept in all day, only listening and cringing to his message when the light blinked for attention. She wouldn't call him back till tomorrow and lie about being sick when she did.

**For the rest of the day, it felt the longest as it had ever been for her...**

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><p>"Okay, this has gone far and long enough."<p>

Lex's muttering breath was the only sound heard that night after another attempted alien dream tried to probe her mind. She woke up quickly, jerking atop her pillow and upon realising what had just happened, she screamed out and threw the sheets aside. She didn't have to worry about disturbing nearby neighbours - she was the last unit in her apartment and on the scarcely rented floors of the entire apartment.

She stood wobbly for a moment, her feet shocked by the cool floor and tired from lack of sleep. When she regained posture and clarity, she glared towards her bedroom closet and tightened her fists.

"I'm through with this... This happened _months_ ago!" she declared angrily before striding over and swung the closet door wide open. Lex dropped to her knees and reached for the wooden box with both hands. Unbeknownst in her desperate rage, the wooden box had grown warm.

"I can't live like this! I don't know why he gave this to me, but I don't want it anymore." Her rants were beginning to sound childish in her ears, but Lex had very valid reasoning. She was a grown woman with a steady career and the aftermath of some things traumatic couldn't keep preventing her from living normally. It was a gracious gift he had bestowed upon her during their final departure, but now Lex felt like he had only given it to her to drive her insane. Perhaps to even, maybe, possibly, drive to the point of suicide. A final kill for the Predators - that seemed almost believable.

So with that, Lex got back up and threw onto to her bed before returning to her closet to grabbing the quickest change of clothes she could think up at 12:30am in the morning. When she returned to the bed in some old jeans, old purple t-shirt and faded blue cardigan, she blindly grasped the box again and began heading out into the main room.

"Goddamn weapon," she continued grumbling to herself as she crossed the living room. "You're fucking with my head!" When she got her keys in one hand and hastily put on her old sneakers, she ripped the front door open and walked through into the hallway, nearly forgetting to close and lock her door behind her.

**Moments later.**

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><p>Lex wiped some unshed tears from her eyes as she drove in silence down the empty city streets. They weren't for lack of confidence but merely because it was late and she was so damn tired of being blinded by bright, unnecessary lights. She was scared of the dreams - or rather, she wasn't afraid of what they meant, just extremely worried and frustrated that no answer on the presence of an unknown thing was coming to her as of late. Wait, wasn't that what the definition of scared pretty much meant? And there was nobody to talk about this with - nobody would understand, nobody would comfort her in the way she needed comforting. She could maybe go back to the government agencies that knew about and kept her secret. They knew enough about the aliens, the incident, and the weapon she was given so it was a long shot. But then... she'd had the dreams for weeks now.<p>

...So what had stopped her from running to them for help in the first place? Answers to that question were beyond her, but she had some she dare not admit. Protection for them maybe? Or in fear of exposing herself...?

In her mental tidal wave, Lex jumped as her in her seat car ran heavily over an ignored speed bump. She yelped quite loudly despite her better and more mature nature and went to gripping the wheel more tightly. With tired brown eyes focused on the road now, she thought of nothing but getting to where she wanted to go and blocked out all and any recurrences of the alien rod.

In her ignorance, she failed to hear and notice the wooden box fall out of the backseat and onto the floor of the car. The latch unhitched itself in the bump and the towels spilled open. With the retractable warrior staff open and in slight view, an orange streetlight streaked through the windows and onto its hilt. In that moment, the staff shuddered with energy and vibrated. Like a stereo's bass turned way up for discomfort, ts energy pulsated loudly from where it was discarded on the floor. But Lex, Lex was too busy driving. The car engine's was counteracting its noticeable beat.

When the car stopped, Lex shut off the engine and opened her door in one fluid motion. As she walked around to unlock the back door, she fixed her hair out of her eyes and readjusted the dark elastic on her head. The gravel beneath her sneakers was loud and crunchy. Lex had driven over 40 minutes to a nearby lake in the centre of the city and was preparing to cast off the box into its darkened depths. No surprise, there was nobody else around at this ungodly hour so she had the benefit of exuding her rage however she pleased. And she wasn't beyond doing so, she had had a pretty good excuse. When she opened the back door and saw the box tossed and opened on the floor, she grumbled and reached down.

"Fucking hell!" she growled angrily and she roughly shoved the weapon and the towels back into box and slamming it closed with a loud click of the latch. When she got a hold of it, she pulled out of the car and slammed the door before walking out onto the shore. She didn't even bother to lock her car as she left.

As the gravel gradually transformed into sand and the waves of the lake increased, Lex's tirade on her curses and grumbling began to lessen. She wasn't having a change of heart, she was only growing more tired and wanted this madness to be over. The lake looked black as the space she dreamt of. Even the nearby streetlights were not strong enough to stretch light out more than few metres before the lake looked more like a crevice of the ocean. It made Lex shuddered. How far could she venture out into it before it would seem like it would swallow her whole? She'd been here countless of times with friends and family - but during the day. It was a completely different world out there.

'Ironic,' she thought bitterly to herself. With a sigh, Lex slowly began heading for the lake's start, its wave lapping up the shore like a taunt. It was about halfway there when she froze and felt it.

The box...

"The box!"

The box was vibrating. She could feel it! For how long, she wasn't sure - but she had a good feeling it was for some time and she'd been growing too dense to realise. She dropped it in fear.

With wide eyes, Lex watched as the sand around the wooden box shifted slightly. It was like a small breeze was pushing te grains along its edges. But as she continued to watch it, the vibration seemed to grow stronger. She could hear it too. Like an angry animal, the box rattled and shook to the beat of an silent metronome. The sand was tossing and churning around it, making eerie swirls and contours all around. The rod inside was active, it was unbelievable. And yet, it was still happening.

Enthralled, Lex reached down and grabbed hold of the box again without fear and sprinted into the lake's water. Water splashing everywhere, her shoes and jeans were soaked up to her thighs.

"YOU FUCKING ALIENS!" she screamed to the black waters before her. Her voice seemed so small beyond something so large.

"WHAT THE _FUCK_ WAS THIS MEANT TO BE? WHAT'S YOUR GAME? God... _DAMN YOU!_ DAMN YOU!"

With a big gesture, she raised the box above her head and made ready to cast the box away.

"SCREW ME IF ANYONE FINDS THIS! I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF THEY DO, IT'LL BE THEIR PROBLEM!" And with a deep breath she used all what energy she had left over the weeks and threw the wooden box so far for her physiology. With a splash far off in the distance, she blindly guessed her throw was good enough and imagined the box sinking to the bottom lake.

"I'm done!"

Time went by like hours. The only thing Lex registered was the echoing of her voice in her own head and the crashing of the lakes waves on the shore behind her. Everything else was silent; the world was black and orange. But Lex felt an inner peace rush within her.

The casting of that nightmare was for the best. She felt better in all ways. Never again would she ever see that rod again, or the reminder of the aliens who tormented her. If she'd thought she'd hated the black snake-like creatures from the pyramid that killed her crew the worst, she had a new favourite to hate. But at least was over.

With a deep heave, Lex felt the shiver of the cold waters wash over her. She hugged her arms around her body and stood with her knees pressed together. Her anger paralyzed any other feeling and now that the object of her distaste was gone, she could start thinking clearly again.

Lex turned slowly and began heading back for shore. She wanted nothing more than to drive home, drop to sleep (hopefully with other dreams!), and wake up and call Joe in the morning to apologize and reschedule. With any luck, things would get better.

That's what she thought...

A strange green light glowed behind her. The light disappeared, then reappeared, and continued in the same pattern. Lex dare not look around. She shut her eyes tightly and shivered more violently.

"No, no..." she whispered desperately to herself. The green light was burning behind her closed eyelids and she could see it. Maybe someone else would see it and come out and get her. Then she wouldn't feel so helplessly alone in all of what was happening. But seconds ticked by like hours and the only light and sounds were green and silence. With a tired whimper, she steeled herself and turned around. She stared down into the water with a tight lip and fire in her eyes.

The lake was black, save for a second of neon green light that seemed to burn brightly some way in the distance. If Lex wasn't so scared about the happenings, she would've been impressed at t=which the distance she threw the damn box. But the light kept pulsating and the water was like a mirror, reflecting every discarded object in the lake.

It must be nearly 2am now she thought to herself. Surely this was a new dream and she was finally over the old one.

Before she knew what was happening, the light returned and remained lit, the lake glowing like a lava lamp and beating out every other colour in the area. Lex strained her ears for any sounds - she was intelligent enough to take in her surroundings and analyse her bearings for any other predicaments.

The water... what happened to the sound of the waves? When she turned to stare at the waves behind her, she was surprised to see that the waves looked like they were frozen in time until she squinted her eyes and realised they were still moving, but at such a slow speed she was sure it was what they called slow motion. Trying to see anything else in the area to help her confirm that, Lex looked out beyond the lakeshore and saw a car's headlights in the distance. Sure enough, the lights appeared like they were stuck in the same position.

"What in the...?" Lex whispered breathlessly. But why could she move normally? What was that rod she had been keeping for months and had now tossed into the lake before her? With a jerk, Lex turned quickly and tried sprinting for the shore. She needed to get her car, away from the box!

A loud vibration began again but remained at a steady pace and bled into her ears quite heavily. As she shot her hands up to cover them, Lex noticed the water in the lake around her began to rise. Like droplets in a special effects video, gravity was eerily lifting the particles surrounding her. Lex watched with a brave face as the ends of her hair and the open cardigan at her waist began floating up. Things like this DID NOT happen without a supernatural reason.

"Oh my God...!"

And in a bright flash, the gravity returned to normal, the waves moved back to regular speed, and the green light had disappeared.

But Lex, Lex was gone.

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><p><em>Much love, Abby~<em>


	4. Chapter 4

_A/n: Thanks for the feedback! _

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><p><strong><em>Out Standing: Chapter 4<em>**

**_August 19, 2011_**

**_by: Her Head in the Clouds_**

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><p>When Lex awoke, the only thing she remembered dreaming about was the green light in the lake and the way her hair floated.<p>

With a pounding headache, she reached up a hand gingerly to her head and waited until the fog vacuumed itself out of her mind. Her motor skills were lagged, she felt sick, and her body gave off the impression like she had just been in kickboxing fight with her uncle. She'd done so before, it wasn't anything she hadn't felt before.

But there was a smell... a strange smell, like something was burning tar and boiling corn at the same time. And the air was warm, not in the way it felt when sunshine hit your face on a spring afternoon, but in the way when an overheating laptop was warming up your bedroom - stifling and little discomforting. Was there a window nearby?

As Lex thought about it, she tried to slowly push herself up from the position she was lying in, testing to see if she was injured because she sure felt like she was. When no pain came, save for the one in her head, Lex dared to open her eyes. She was met with a metal wall.

To her right was glass, large and taking up the entire wall like a window. She wasn't exactly sure but she felt like the window had somehow been... turned off. What might've been viewed through it was beyond her. But she'd only guessed because that was how it seemed when she dreamt-!

With a jerk, she froze.

"Don't tell me..." she muttered darkly, and with a slow swizzle of her head, she guessed where she was.

The ship.

The ship from the dreams. The Predator alien ship that would take her to a new solar system and have her suffocating on a planet she wasn't biologically meant for. With a cautious step, she raised her knee and leaned her upper body heavily against it. With a gasp for air that she dramatically exhaled, she stared with sharp eyes to the closed door on her left. There was nothing in the room, save for herself and a strange sound like something was tapping gently on the vents above. She knew nothing could be crawling around in it - if she was on the ship with the same aliens she believed and dreamt of, for all their hunting and stealth expertise, they wouldn't let any creature come aboard.

"Except for me," she sarcastically spat.

A deep whooshing sound suddenly echoed around the room and before Lex had time to jump into a defensive stance or posture, the only door on her left slid open and there in the frame standing over 7 feet tall, was a Predator. Had she seen any other of their kind before the incident in Antarctica that she couldn't identify as Scar, Lex would've been afraid and accepted unmatchable death at their hands. But since she'd seen them replayed in her dreams every night, the reality of their girth, ferocity, and terrifying features did not faze her anymore. She handled the one before her with grace and confidence, pushing herself off the ground and standing to lean against the wall beside her. She was still dizzy, but her eyes were clear and brave. The Predator outside the room, regarding her stare and presumably knowledgeable in the events that had been happening with her for the past weeks, did nothing. She knew there was a reason for having those dreams, no matter how worrying it seemed. Now being physically alive in it, she couldn't think of anything to do but accept it and adapt.

A moment later, the voice behind his mask clicked and gurgled before he stalked back out into the hallway walking away. The door was left open. With a deep breath, Lex took no time pondering and walked through and followed, trying her best to toss dizziness from her brain.

The events that followed thereafter followed just as they had in the dream. She followed the large Predator to what she believed was their main deck, where the stars and cold emptiness of space welcomed her from beyond a huge window. But Scar did not appear and to her disappointment. Lex quickly learned that he was not among them after all.

"He didn't make it..." she concluded softly. Almost hearing and understanding her, the chief warrior who appeared as he did in the dream, stepped up to her and trilled a low and long growl. Most likely, it was his confirmation. Lex suddenly felt lonelier.

When it came time to follow them into the smaller control room, she knew was what was coming. Lex didn't even turn to stare onto the prize skulls that decorated the halls of the ship - she'd seen it all in the dreams. It was when she finally reached the main control room that her heart leapt out of her body.

'Instant death,' she whispered to herself in her head. The aliens regarded her as they had in the dream and when it came for the oxygen to cut, Lex held her breath and waited for the worst. She wanted to shut her eyes, but decided against it and instead chose to give them the deadliest glare she could. If looks could kill, she hoped her would tear them to pieces then send her back home on Earth, the planet they took her life away from.

She was not expecting then, the sudden action of a helmet being placed on her head and securely fastened around her neck.

"Jesus!" she cried, unnerved by the immediate action and unexpected turn of events. This did NOT happen in the dreams. When she snapped her head to the hands that held the helmet in place, she noticed a predator securing the helmet on her face tightly to her shoulders. A button clicked and the darkness that blinded her vision was flushed away. The specs of the helmet were on to her curiosity and she could see everything around her in 5 or more visions. It was completely NOT the dream she had dreamt.

"But how're you...?" When she looked down, she realised she wasn't wearing the clothes she'd worn to the lake. The predator was strapping her helmet, from what she could see, was to a light synthetic outfit and hugged her body tightly and was fixated with many heavy parts and thin counterparts - she could only guess, from what she'd witnessed with Scar, that they were weapons and other devices. Relieved, but discomforted, she felt the wet clothes of her jeans, shirt and cardigan beneath it. Her sneakers were gone, and some boots she couldn't begin to describe were on her feet. After the observation, Lex stared up at the Predator still adjusted the straps on her face. He didn't say anything but he was trilling quite softly, possibly in communication with the others. When he was done he stepped away and the chief warrior began stepping toward her. Lex felt her heart pound.

Her vision scopes in the helmet turned to infra-red without her knowledge as he approached, and noted how the insides of his body circulated with a green energy. But she wasn't fazed. She'd seen their blood before. When he finally stopped in front of her, he fisted a rough gesture toward his heart and forehead, and Lex somehow knew.

"Welcome," he seemed to say and Lex still mind-boggled about the whole thing, instinctively threw her head down to see the floor as her own fist pumped back some kind of gesture.

'Okay, this dream just got really fucked up. What the hell...?' With the formalities quickly over, the chief went right back to business.

"Restoration complete?" he growled. Lex would've remained silent at anything he was going to say at her and only respond when necessary.

"E... Excuse me?" she cautiously asked. Not answering her question directly, the chief reached forward and tapped on the side of her helmet. Lex was smart - she knew he was trying to tell her something. Suddenly the helmet flashed green and some cryptic alien words began running down the length of her vision. Like a computer it was reading out information and to Lex's astonishment, she could read it all.

Then it hit her.

The whole time she'd been among them, they were speaking in their native language. Not a word or syllable of English, yet she could understand what they were saying. Lex felt her breath quiver and it took nearly all her willpower to not step back and away from their chief. She'd thought this was another dream but... now she wasn't so sure. For once everything that seemed real, felt really, REALLY real.

As she dared to read the symbols of their language, its scrolling finally stopped and a result appeared. Large on the screen were 'numbers' and a final refresh score: it read out, from what she could eerily translate, 72%.

72%...?

Lex stared up at the chief, waiting for an explanation. If he knew about things that were going on with her, like restoration and her behaviour on the ship, surely he was just keeping her in the dark for now and knew everything that was going on.

The chief trilled softly as he eyed her critically. The Weaker were not advanced, but they were keen and saw the world through big eyes; she would not be very difficult, so he placed out his arm and pressed a button on what looked like a detonator pack around his wrist. A hologram appeared.

Lex watched as it began to replay the images of what looked like water splashing, followed by a series of pulsating flashes and then it froze. She put her lip into a tight line. This was recorded at the lake.

Then the holographic image began to distort and surge until it showed what looked like a vast array of ice and snow. Two beings were on the ground, one kneeling over the other, before a large space transport ship de-camouflaged in the air above them. Lex felt her eyebrows crease at the realisation of a memory she'd wanted to bury, coming up for air. Without thinking, she spoke up.

"So? What? Just wanted to make a point of how you ruined my life more than once?" she said bitterly. She didn't care if they understood English or not. The chief turned his head back to her.

"No," he said gruffly.

Oh, guess they could understand. That or they were translating her words somehow.

"You must see. Must remember."

'Remember what...?' Lex was going to voice the thought but decided against looking like a confused child in front of them. Again, if they had all the answers then they would tell her soon.

Suddenly the image on the hologram changed and the picture of what looked like the retractable staff they had given appeared, floating like a magical artifact in the Indiana Jones games her little cousin Jamcichael used to play. As she began becoming swamped with more memories and questions, the rod was suddenly doused in something. Coming from a high place the hologram couldn't reach scale to, the rod looked like it had just entered a shower. Assuming it was water, Lex watched curiously as the water that began to fall over the rod made droplets fly and splash in the image.

'Interesting toy they've got,' she thought quickly before suddenly noticing what was happening in the image. The water began to lessen as the last of the droplets fell over the rod, it glowed dangerously. Pulsating with a bright light every few intervals, Lex guessed it was the same rod she had tossed into the lake and the chief was just showing what happened beneath. The rod in the hologram continued to glow until, in a bright flash, the droplets still clinging to its body floated away from the weapon, hanging lazily in midair. Then, just as Lex had gotten more interested in watching, the rod blinked out in a flash was gone. The only thing remaining were its water droplets, now falling to the ground. Then the hologram ended. When it was over, the chief pressed something on the detonator and pulled his mighty arm back to his side. He regarded Lex with a watchful, taking in her observation skills.

Lex didn't even notice him as she began processing everything.

So the rod was activated by water, and with enough it could... No, the idea sounded beyond comprehensible and easy but, if nothing else... Lex thought about it.

Was she transported? Her eyes widened only slightly through her helmet but the chief of the clan was quick to notice. He began speaking instantly.

'Afraid you take time. Long time. But you speak, you learn. You found way to activate the power. The Weaker is not dumb. Only slow.'

Lex instantly took offence to that and gave him a flit of her eyes as she remained silent. Yesterday she didn't even know in the hell that the weapon was meant to be ANYTHING but a creepy home decoration. How was she expected that she supposed to figure all that out from a replay of dreams that told her nothing? Not that she would've even tried had she actually known. Her life was tough enough as it already was. The chief ignored the glare, thinking it funny she would defend the obviousness of her kind. He walked around her to a computer in the control room where another Predator sat. Graciously stepping aside the much taller alien stood behind Lex in formal dismiss and watched as his superior began clocking in info for Lex to see. Stepping a foot forward, Lex watched him carefully.

The large square box deemed as the computer lit up in red before changing to green and running down symbols of encryption again. Suddenly a light blinked and an image appeared. Lex drew in a sharp breath and felt her heart rate rise - it was probably at dangerous 134bpm by now.

It was her. She was on the screen. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she was lying on something from what she would see in the head cover shot but to the point. It was her! And she didn't look like she was wearing anything around her neck and on her shoulders. Lex prayed to God they hadn't abducted her and were probing her possibly nude body in some twisted experiment that she wasn't aware of.

'Comatose,' was all the chief said as they watched the image transition to a much larger one, this time recording her seemingly rested body from the side. Lex noted that they had her lying a thin, table angled to have her standing without falling over. She could only stare as the image, and the room she was sleeping in began to fill with smoke and the area turned red. Just when she was about the turn on the chief and accept any consequences for cussing out an alien on their horrible nature, the Lex in the image opened her eyes and stepped off the table. Lex turned her full attention back to herself, completely engrossed.

The Lex in the image, who WAS partially nude in only undergarments (while real Lex's embarrassment and fear sky-rocketed in the control room full of burly, presumably male aliens), began walking over to the opposite wall where she lifted her hand over a panel and a drawer slid out. In thirty seconds flat, the holographic Lex was dressed in a thinner, lighter version of the Predator armour and carrying her helmet, she stalked out the door just as the smoke began to disappear. Then the image distorted and jumped to another.

'What in the...' Lex only thought as a new image appeared. In the new one, she was standing with two other Predators. They were all making gestures and their mouths moved wildly at each other - the holographic Lex's eyes alert and clear while her expression remained taut as she copied their movements again and again. There was no audio output on the computer but Lex didn't have to guess what she might've been doing.

"I... learned the language...?" she whispered more to herself than anyone. Did that explain why she suddenly knew what they were saying to her in her dreams and why she could understand them now? Was she even speaking English to them right now since she got on board? Wait! But she already knew, then how long was this image-!

The image distorted again, quicker this time and in a final image, Lex saw herself in a large room with other Predator aliens. She was holding a small silver weapon, and throwing it viciously back and forth between herself and another Predator. Both caught the weapon, what Lex could only pinpoint as a shuriken, with precision and ease; it looked like a second nature. When they finished a couple rounds, Lex turned to a higher platform and kneeled toward it. Real Lex noted how the chief was standing atop it with crossed arms, his mandibles flexing as if he were talking. Then Lex heard it.

"I am prepared. Second test: Megalith is my kill!"

Lex heard her voice through the computer. All those nights of dreaming... and now this?

When the images finally finished and the computer went back to running encryptions, the chief turned back to face her with a fire in his eyes.

"Good fighter," he began firmly. "Trained well. Spirit and body is ready. But mind is not. Final restoration not yet completed?"

As Lex listened to him, the pieces of a strange puzzle began coming together to make sense. So, all this time, her dreams were windows trying to get her to ...'wake up'? If the images were real, which she betted were, then she'd been on this ship the entire time, training and preparing for a trip to that hostile planet to kill the Megalith. She wanted to ask directly.

"I was...here." she said to him firmly. The chief shook his head.

"No. You remained home. Mind was here, training. Now that body is here, The Weaker can become Stronger."

Become...?

"You didn't ask. Only took," she replied darkly. "What if this isn't what I want? What gives you right!"

The chief growled, taking a step forward almost tempting to talk like that again before he jabbed a finger to the Predator behind her.

"You are now of his clan. Should brother mark, the rest must accept."

Lex turned cautiously to stare up at the Predator behind her. It was the same one that had moved away from the computer when the chief needed to use it. He and Scar were brothers?

The Predator was much taller than Scar was and more lean, but he had longer and almost identical features to the one that had saved her life. The Predator tilted his head at her regarding her with sharp eyes and trilled low before turning his head away and walking to the other side of the room. He was definitely not much a talker. Lex turned her head back to the chief.

"But I'm not one of the clan. I'm... I'm Weaker." The words were acid on her tongue.

"Cannot decide. You will once you have proven. Proven to be of the clan. No chance now," he said. Then with a swish of his cape, he stalked to the other side of the room and grabbed what looked like a horrific syringe.

"The fuck with this!" she cried desperately as he came back around.

Lex's widened behind her mask and without even realising it, she instinctively reached for a weapon concealed under her shirt and raised the tip of the blade toward the chief as he approached. The other Predators saw the attempt and seemed ready to pounce her but the chief made a gesture to prevent them. He trilled softly.

"You are remembering."

Lex looked out at her hand and saw the weapon. Instantly she dropped it in fear, afraid of how she was suddenly able to do that and know where it had come from. Her eyes started to brim with tears but her expression was furious.

"Take me home," she commanded. But when the other Predators came around and held her arms, she stood frozen. And the chief came up to her, took her hand, and shot the syringe up her palm.

"No. There is still the Second Test. And you must remember."

And like a bolt of energy, Lex's eyes grew wide in shock as a surge ran through her.

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><p><em>Much love, Abby~<em>


	5. Chapter 5

~_Ladies and gentlemen, all good things must arrive at The End._

_::Dedications go out to all the readers, both known users and interested offliners, for sticking with this story from beginning to end. I know it's not the most original but it's great knowing open-minders are willing to indulge in someone else's crummy ideas. :P Lol, Special Mention to __GrayHuntress__, __Soul-Girl__, and __AkioShiloh__ who were constant acquaintances/friends in areas of support, advice, and regular ranting. Author's Note is at the end, for your pleasure._

_Warning: Extremely, terribly, accidentally long (but last) chapter – get comfy!_

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><p><em><strong>Out Standing: Chapter 5 – Epilogue<strong>_

_**by: Her Head in the Clouds**_

_**September 1**__**st**__**, 2011**_

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><p>Anger grew into tolerance. Fear eventually made for acceptance. Loneliness developed into adaptation. And a prison, became a secondary home.<p>

She didn't waste time and valuable energy trying to tick the minutes away and every click and hiss she heard around her became her anchor, not her wall. She'd furrow her eyebrows from time to time when their words and sentences made no sense, but then she would bite down on her lip and concentrate until the conversation would string together in her mind.

The other aliens around her didn't seem to care or acknowledge it – she was an outsider trying to find her way back into the circle, and she'd better well damn try to keep up.

_74%..._

Alexa understood, to the point, when these affairs around her were now beyond her control. She couldn't deny that despite this never having been really a dream or nightmare, she was thankful for all the dreamless, full-rested nights she'd slept on this space cruiser than in her own bed. Sure it was completely strange to get up and realize that in her dormant states she was half-standing/half-lying on what might as well have a mortician's table, half-clothed, in a room filled with weird smoke but… hell, no day since that day she left for Antarctica on Mr. Weyland's interest had ever fallen back into complete normalcy. Even eating or sitting around with the Predators didn't faze her.

Alexa sat stiff-knee and back-straight in a small bunker where she was, trying and failing miserably, conversing with the Chieftain of the Predators. His long red cape was replaced with deep blue and she suddenly felt stupid for believing they probably only knew of a few colours because the spectrum of their ship was so "one-tone".

"_Yautja,_" he snuffed. Alexa kept clear sharp eyes on his, trying not to stray to his grizzly mandibles or the blade-like staff he carried around, perched nonchalantly on the wall beside him. She nodded her head slowly with lips in a tight, thin line. When he made a hand gesture, she exhaled softly.

"_I..,_" she timidly tried to start in the alien language. "_…remember the name._"

(*_Italicized dialogue is spoken in Yautja._)

The chief nodded slowly, accepting her slow start. While her helmet had given her the gist of their language the first time they met "officially", her pure remembrance of the language was gone and she had to begin slowly for it to all come back. The chief said she was at near restoration in all other terms of the cultural background and knowledge – native tongue only took up a small quarter that would near her to completion faster if she only picked it up again… the entire translation of this explanation took her nearly four days to understand.

But listening was done; now it was time to speak up for herself. And every day, she and the Chief were to be undisturbed as she practiced, and practiced, and practiced, trying to get the entire language back.

_93%..._

It amazed Lex how quickly everything seemed to return to her with just the flicks of a tongue, a sensitive ear, and the patience to absorb. She spoke their native tongue fluently. All she really _did_ need was to pick up the _Yautja_ language to finally understand what was going on around her and what needed to be done.

Coming to terms with the reality that their alien abduction of her on Antarctica was more for the reason of it being a respectful tradition than a terrible cannibal/science-experiment nightmare did much to put her mind at ease.

Scar's mark on her cheek, a symbol of honour and rightfulness to hunt forever burned into her flesh, was recognized by their culture – that much she knew when she accepted the retractable staff from their chief warrior. But holes were left in that memory. They did things with her and for her and to her that she didn't ever remember. They blocked up the truth – made it seem to her like she'd just taken the staff and gone home and lived her life with insomnia. New memories, _fake _memories, were replaced for her protection.

Because honestly, what creature, _any_ creature, in this universe, would willingly join strangers without the inkling as to knowing what they would do or if they would ever come back alive?

The Yautja are an advanced race of aliens. Even _they_ are smart enough to understand the complex dilemma of homesickness, confusion, fear, and anger that comes with the first human ever to reach beyond her own solar system.

So Lex, unaware of her real actions, her real body, took the staff and walked into the ship with the Predators and submitted herself to their intense physical training and alien customs with nothing but a fleeting memory in a dream that blindfolded her touch with reality. Syringes with the right fluid helped with that. And now, they were going to do the opposite.

Before retiring to bed, Lex would take a syringe, the same one the chief had first injected into her upon her 'second arrival', and sleep a dull sleep. She didn't have dreams but when she did they came like wildfire – images of Antarctica, double jaws trying to rip her throat out, combi-sticks and retractable shuriken… then they changed to images on a hologram of an enormous creature with a long, stalk figure. Like a cross-between a mantis, and a human with hellish grizzly skin, long claws and a dishevelled head. Its tube-shaped skull protruding with spikes and eyes like slit holes of black gleam. Its mouth had three set of jaws; an outer bar like shark teeth, an inner hole with circular fangs like a squid, and a third that shot out of the mouth much like the Aliens who inhabited the pyramid.

These were the dreams that scared her the most. They were images of what was yet to come, not of what was currently happening. She didn't have to ask to know that this creature, this new breed of alien...was the Megalith.

It had the similar physical structures to the beasts the Predators hunted as trophies, which gave her the impression that perhaps they might have originated from the same planet. But as Lex stared into the hologram of her dream, she had a sinking feeling that maybe that wasn't the truth. Lex could only hope that as she prepared for a first and final showdown with the beast, she'd have the strength and courage to kill it.

All she really wanted out of this fantasy-turned-reality was to get her right to return home. Once she killed it, and proved herself a worthy member of Scar's clan she could decide the rest of her destiny.

_98%..._

Lex swiped at a heavy layer of sweat on her brow and got up from the ground.

Scar's brother growled loudly from his offensive stance above her and pulled back his weapon. They had been practising battle strategies and perfecting their fighting techniques. Now that Lex was finally understanding and slowly starting to accept that her place among the Predators had already been established many weeks ago (despite her immediate knowledge), she had to step up. Lex was a grown woman; when a problem as hostile as this came up, she couldn't stomp her feet and complain like the kid she once was. Her Dad, her career, and her strength in character had taught her not to crack under pressure; only to rise up against it.

It wasn't like the aliens had given her the no-chance-in-hell policy to return her back to Earth. They said they could, and that was as good an answer as she would accept ...so long as she proved herself among them and killed this...Megalith.

Scar's brother roared again from above her as Lex found her place on her knees and hunched over.

"_I...I heard you,_" she hissed behind her teeth. A long, dull pain was pumping in her shoulders from where he had thrown her to the floor.

"_No, by all means...lie there. That look suits you well,_" he said sarcastically. Now that Lex had remembered from the holographic memories that she had learned to speak their language, the alien language was no longer chalky and short formed. She could understand them like she would her own species... and their personalities didn`t really differ either.

"_Shut up,_" she smirked. Scar`s older brother was much more snippy and mischievous of the two. Although, she wasn`t sure if Scar had been the same since she knew him before coming on this ship and getting the chance to actually converse with her brief comrade. Now she never would. As the bitter feeling dropped into her stomach, her smirk fell. She bounced on her feet before pushing herself up into a stand.

_"We should go again,_" he said as he walked around, stalking her form like a tower over a child. Lex rolled her shoulders gingerly and gripped her retractable staff. It was given back to her when she regained her memory and she could now use it as her personal weapon again. She nodded to his statement when he looked at her with helmetless eyes.

``_Are you alright_?" he asked without the slightest hint of concern etched into his voice. Lex twisted the synthetic arm band around her wrist and walked around him, mimicking his vulture parade.

"_The Megalith...,_" she began slowly but formerly. In this vessel, every Predator was her superior, whether she liked it or not (which she didn't). She had to make sure she showed them every bit of respect and although she and Scar's brother, who she took it upon herself to name, Lean, shared a quick and tolerable partnership between them, she was still little. "_Have you...ever seen one before?_"

Lean scoffed and leaned down an inch to give off the impression of inferiority on her with his posture. That's why she called him Lean, because of his height and the way he kept leering down on her like an arrogant freakish basketball player. The Yautja never revealed their real names to Lex – maybe out of pity or fear that she could have difficulty with unpronounceable syllables; or more likely that it was part of their culture not to reveal it to an outsider. Either way, Lex wasn't bothered one bit by this... she'd only bothered to memorise only a handle of familiar faces on the ship. Lean went on to speak.

"_Don't worry, you're special. All outsiders are; to prove yourself, you're given a kill few or none of us have ever encountered,_" he began as he walked away to a nearby panel in the wall that initiated weapon armories hidden around the training dome. He flexed a hand and sound over it and a shelf of different sized retractable shuriken appeared. As he went to reach for one, he let out a sound that almost sounded like a chuckle to Lex. "_Honestly, what amusement would there be in witnessing a test that can be easily handled by our own kin?_"

"_Will I be alone?_" she asked. Lean looked over his shoulder as he fingered a blade point on the weapon to look at the human. Lex swayed mildly on her feet, looking smaller than the aggressive alien she had training with for the past couple hours. He rolled his neck and grunted with his mandibles.

"_You will survive. Prove to us you can,_" he said bluntly because it wasn't for reassurance, it was a warning. The conversation ended. Lex had only asked because the Yautja culture taught that teamwork and working as team were the greatest keys to victory. Having remembered how Scar had two other companions on his first trial, suddenly made her feel uncomfortable all over again.

Then without warning, Lean tossed the activated shuriken from his hand into Lex's line of vision. Instinctively she raised her rod and twisted it into a flurry of spins and when the clank of the shuriken hitting the wall behind her echoed around the room, Lex dropped into a defensive stance before preparing for a list of techniques and strategies to take down Lean one more time.

A day later, she was ready, and Lean took Lex to meet the Chieftain for one final meeting. She was ready, and restoration had reached full potential.

_100%...Restoration Complete._

Had Lex believed her imagination for a moment back on Earth that perhaps the rod she kept squished between two towels was a beacon and transport device back to an alien vessel that was secretly training her to be a part of one of their clan, she would have told you to fuck off and get tested.

Now that she's standing in the humid purpling forest of the planet from her dream with Scar's older brother, the Predator's warrior chief, five other Predators, holding a weapon, an infrared oxygen helmet, and a ridiculous mission to go kill a creature none of them have ever dealt with – she keeps telling herself to fuck off and get tested.

The oval-shaped planet (which she had yet to know the name of) was as hot as she remembered but thankfully unlike the nightmare that kept her awake all those weeks, they didn't place her on it to die. They had been helping her prepare to survive here because whatever she was meant to kill was beyond the little comfort of the Predator ship, cloaked to camouflage and docked behind her.

When the hangar bay, large enough to reach the length of a football field, descended its ramp onto the gravel pit and earth of the jungle, Lex followed a group of Predators out into the open when suddenly she felt a sensation that made her shoot a hand to cover her eyes. She was blinded by the violent neon light of the sky high above and the yellow clouds that looked like they were slowly spreading a poison down onto the planet beneath it. As she dragged her gaze up to the high mountains in the distance, the young woman couldn't believe how strange it was to see such an array of odd colors come together to form something almost magical and near perfect. How different were the other worlds and planets from Earth? Were they like this one, in all blues, greys, yellows and purples? Were they more blood red like a volcano? More aqua?

Lean trilled loudly from his post beside her, cutting off her train of thought. Lex turned her attention back to the situation at hand. When she scoured the area through her helmet in normal vision her breath hitched at the sight of the stone slab. Just like in the dream, it had strange rune marks written all around it, but thankfully for her now extensive knowledge and understanding in the Predator culture, she realised it was a tribal stage, like a podium, designed to send off and welcome hunters of different clans when they were ready or returning. Each rune was a clan's symbol or coat of arms; near the centre, Lex spotted the one that she was marked with – Scar and Lean's clan had been to this planet before.

For the same kill? Probably not. The Megalith was a new creature to all Predators now. Upon reaching the tribal stage, Lex and the Yautja all lined up in a semi-circle, kneeling before their Chief warrior who suddenly uncloaked himself before them with his staff and helmet. There was silence, and then he spoke.

"_Alexa,_" he called, using her formal name and signalling her to rise from the group. "_Alexa Wood. Originating from a Weaker species that has yet to be recognised by any other race in the galaxy... Disappointing as that is,_" he noted with a low trill that Lex's body seemed to tense at that before he continued. "_Something was seen within you and now in order to prove yourself worthy of making your own choices among us, you have a mission granted to you and no other Yautja. Do you understand?_"

At this, Lex dropped down to her knees again and stared into the rocks.

"_I am prepared. Second Test: Megalith is my kill._"

Her tone of voice was steady and aggressive, something the Chief, Lean, and the other Yautja noticed and relaxed to. They rose up around her to stand.

"Please let me go home," Lex whispered to herself in English when they didn't hear her as they rustled about, even through their hyper-sensitive helmets. When she finally rose up, she gave the Chieftain the longest gaze.

It felt like hours before either of them let up, and one of the Predators behind Lean stepped forward and regarded that the situation needed to be over.

"_Elder,_" he called as he stared up into the clouds above the canopy of the violet rainforest. "_It is time._"

"_Then go. I send with you all the strength of my spirit as do your kin._"

And with a loud roar from his mandibles, the Chief Warrior threw his staff on the rock plateau beneath his feet and like a gun-shot signalling the start of the race, Lex bolted for the dense bushes of the forest ahead of her. Lean was following behind her, as were the other five Yautja– they would be her support party, record her progress, and offer assistance if needed. If there was anything the Yautja were, they were not cruel individuals who taunted and left-you-for-dead; if they respected and wanted the best hunters, they would do what they could to grace them.

The thicket of the forest was hard and heavy. Lex ran in stupidly assuming she could push back these bushes like she did the soft branches in Africa and was now having trouble trying to get through or around it. Branches that looked easy enough to snap were stone hard – they bruised her arms and legs as she tried to fight her way through it. She heard the grunts of her team behind her as they did the same. As she suddenly remembered the sharp laser blade concealed in her boot's pouch and went down to reach for it, Lex had the fleeting memory of a team she lead through Brazil once and how they had laughed the whole way through a cobweb of twisted vines and branches. The ache of homesickness thumped through her as she viciously began to cut her way through the thicket. Seeing her actions, Lean and the other five worked to do the same, tossing the occasional throwing blades and slicing with their blades. After fifteen minutes had past, they had made it through into a smaller clearing of trees. Dried grass, dead trees and gentle creatures that looked like crosses between rhinos and llamas were everywhere. The Predators heed them no concern so Lex didn't have to brandish her rod as she wanted to.

No one said a word. Only silence but the thick and heavy stomps of their energy boots and rustling of leaves was heard. Lex switched many times between spectrums on her helmet to get a good insight into the forest's profile. It was much like the rainforests back in Peru that she used to hike and lead expeditions through. The wildlife was more different as the plethora of animal and plant life were more alien but otherwise it was a forest nonetheless.

Things seemed to go fine.

Suddenly a massive wavelength appeared on the monitors of all their helmets. Because the helmet was essentially a computer that scanned the surrounding areas for activity as they moved, it tracked seismographic levels and audio recordings of things not archived. Lex understood that the wavelength of energy that just passed through here was not common in this part of the forest. The rhino-llamas jerked in their grazing of the dead grass and bolted like chickens away from the clearing – even they knew something had gone wrong. Lex froze in the eerie silence. Her eyes were wide yet sharp behind her helmet and she brought down her breathing one notch to focus on remaining quiet and attention.

Maybe if they all stopped moving for a second to scan around them they would be fine. Lex silently agreed with that logic and was about to slowly raise her hand to switch over her normal vision to infrared. Until one the five Predators in the back, one she had yet to talk to before, cried out in pain and was suddenly gone.

The whole group whirled around trying to find him.

"_Trj'Uyrak!_" the Predator that had been beside him yelled. They heard his cries and the rustling of the undergrowth. Lex's heart pounded wildly, her fingers reaching up frantically for the spectrum's switcher.

'_Don't tell me I'm gonna fucking die before I even get the chance t-!'_

_CRRREEECCCHHHHSTEUKISCHH! CHUNK!_

Something like sickening splitting sound echoed around them and the Predator who had been crying out was eerily silent.

Any hope any of them had in believing that maybe he'd turned around and was just afraid and ran back to the ship was gone. Predators didn't do that – they stayed on mission until death. Something had gotten him.

Lex took three steps to the right, ready to go off course from their designated path to search and locate him. She may not have ever met the alien but dammit, like any other team she had she never abandoned them. Lean saw this in her body movements and yanked her back in place. She turned to stare at him and was ready to give a comment.

"_No,_" he said before she got the chance. "_Nobody should try to be a hero._"

Lex, who was loss for words, looked down and pondered on his words. _'The teacher becomes the student,'_ she thought bitterly to herself as she remembered she'd said something similar back to Weyland's team before the Antarctic expedition started. With a solemn nod of her head, she turned around slowly and proceeded to continue walking. If everyone went off trying to save one another, the Megalith would never be found and they'd be killed off one-by-one by the forest itself. They had to keep moving and with a fleeting moment for grief she led the group deeper into the jungle.

It wasn't long before another of their group suddenly cried out and disappeared. Just as quickly as the other had captured and horrifically torn apart (from what they could only imagine by the sounds), it didn't take long for the eerie silence to return and plague Lex's mind with fear. Their delay and listen for sound was shorter this time around. Senses were heightened, frustrations grew, and the anxiety to get to their checkpoint for rest was building. Lex desperately wanted to curse out loud at the creature killing off her team one-by-one, to taunt and challenge it out in the open where she could kill it and get on to finding the Megalith. She was sure, Lean and the remaining three Predators felt the same way.

But she couldn't stop and stray from the mission, lest she never get the chance to return home. She'd either be killed or left here if she let that happen!

Deciding to stay close, everyone began walking in twos with one Predator walking alone in the middle. Lex and one Predator walked side by side at the front of the pack, Lean stalked alone behind them as the team's tallest look out, and the other two brought up the rear, standing so close to each other that they were literally one alien with two heads. Normally, they would all scour in different areas by themselves and report to each other around the hour. _'Constant communication was the key to survival'_ Lex silently reflected, but this was a special mission and certain priorities took the place of others – especially when two already highly-trained and intelligent Predators had already vanished.

When they finally reached the checkpoint, they stopped to rest and gather their bearings. It was a large tree stationed many yards away from the cloaked space ship – it looked much like a gigantic mushroom with glowing blue undergrowth and red vines like veins, but it carried with it a peaceful aura that made Lex's seized-up muscles loosen and relax. Finding a big enough bend in one of the higher limbs that could fit and hold four Amazon-sized Predators and one moderately-sized human female, Lex and the team situated for a rest on it, safely concealed by the low and heavy coverage of its willow-like leaves. The leaves glowed bright pink and gave off a sweet smell like rose water through their filtered helmets and oxygen masks. Each was the size of car seats, giving them the enough camouflage from heat-detecting and aroma-scopic aliens on the planet.

Lex felt the world catch up around her as her head grew dizzy from nothing and everything. All these new senses were throwing her mind off course, and the anxieties of the day were enough to make her want to rip her helmet off. She'd never been on a hunt before – ever, in her life. Even when her Dad's friend Lorey had asked her one summer to come along and experience it she politely declined the sport. Not that she was an animal-activist or anything; just that she knew how wrapped up in the strategic concept of hunting. She did the analytical part of being a scavenger all her career – it just felt strange and beyond her to use it toward something other than for sightseeing and adrenaline kicks.

Lean handed her a syringe from his medical pack on his back to let her inject herself with. It was to slow down the loss of sugar and potassium in her body so her muscles didn't cramp up; it was also contained a chemical agent that increased her brainwave activity in the lobe where all her memories were stored. Anything she may have forgotten about in her training or lessons as a Yautja hunter could be restored. It was still a whirlwind to believe that her mind was already prepared for this but just dormant; but she accepted the necessity of it anyway.

After sticking it through her forearm through a tiny hole in the synthetic arm band she was using as part of her hunting ensemble, she watched as he and the other three Predators did the same. Then, they took off their helmets. She hadn't realised that they were programming their computer scanners to see what the probability of breathing the planet's air was. Apparently, it was adaptable if they injected the right serum into their bodies to help fight off any unwanted gases. Lex tried to do the same but reading the scanning her helmet – the injection really did help her remember things she had forgotten. When she found the right setting and correct results, she switched over to an oxygen mask. Beneath her helmet, she felt the Yautja's technology do its work as it fitted a human-like oxygen mask over her mouth and locked it into place. Then with a click, the helmet unlocked and Lex cautiously raised her hands up to remove it.

The other Predators watched silently as she attempted to breathe without her helmet. When the helmet came over her eyes and she realised she hadn't tumbled into a fit of suffocated pain or terror, the other Predators trilled softly and Lean leaned over to take the helmet from her hands and placed it beside his own.

"_Good work,_" he said mildly impressed. "_But it will be harder for any of us to see if something is about to strike us in this tree._"

"_It's only for a few moments,_" Lex replied as she gazed heavily onto his alien features. "_We need everything we have at our disposal._" When she looked to the other three Predators, they nodded their heads in agreement. It was the first time Lex had seen their faces and now she could differentiate between them. One was green and had thick gristles along the side of his face, one was burlier than the rest with a shorter neck, and the last was about the same body structure as Lean but was way shorter and had brown hair-vine-like tendrils on his head instead of black. They were all an off pair. But she supposed she would give them names to remember them once they put their masks back on.

Suddenly the ground rumbled beneath her feet and an eerie feeling rippled through her. Before any of them could react and throw their helmets back on, Lean was ripped from his post and flung several feet away from their spot and hit another tree. The shockwave of the assault was enough to send Lex and the other three Predators to be thrown out of the tree and onto the forest floor below. As Lex saw stars in her blurry eyes, she heard the green Predator let out a screech of pain on the ground behind her. He must have broken a bone in the fall. Lex didn't scream, but her eyes grew wide like saucers and she shook with fear. The other two sprung into action, starting up the plasma cannons on their shoulders, hoping to catch whatever was trying to nick them off one by one.

Then they saw it, stalking up like some terrible beast from a thriller, Lex and the other two Predators backed away and saw what they believed was unimaginable.

"_MEGALITH!_" the Predator with brown tendrils screeched from behind Lex.

The hologram did not do it justice.

The creature was much larger, much _chunkier_ than it appeared on the image – maybe due to image distortion or it had an earlier stage of growth that the Chief had not yet updated on. But it wasn't thin and mantis-like like the one in the hologram. It had hind legs like a giant wolf, muscles rippling as it bent in its hunch, but it had feet like a bird, black like boiling tar and claws the length of giant squid teeth. Its entire body was black with splotches of brown and sick yellow in places. Perhaps it was infected or just dirty but its skin looked tough and shiny. Its head remained virtually the same as it had on the hologram... but...

What scared Lex the most was the way it could open its chest cavity. Inside what looked like a huge Predator's mandibles, large-tooth like bones flexing in and out, was a pulsating meat sack that made a spasm and writhed like a swollen tongue covered in boils. If Lex wasn't scared shitless, she would've heaved up bile onto the forest floor. And that was exactly where the burly Predator, aimed his plasma cannon when he had the chance to strike.

The Megalith was fast though as it jumped and sprinted on its black legs to a nearby tree, using its long, bony, humanoid fingers with nails like Freddie Kruger to clamber up the tree. The Burly Predator roared threateningly up at it, as did the other two. Lex preferring her retractable rod over the cannon on her shoulder went to reach for it and twirled it anxiously in her hands before dropping into a defensive stance.

The Megalith shivered violently as it twisted its head around in the air looking for their scent. Even though it had eyes, they didn't have pupils and Lex had a good guess that perhaps it was blind or sensitive to bright light. It explained why the Predators had dumped it here on this planet; it gave them the upper-hand. Then, the Megalith charged with a roar towards Lex. Using her expert skills, she rolled and dodged out of its rampage and into in a safer corner of the trees.

Lex quickly turned her head over her shoulder, her body was on high alert, and her oxygen mask fogged over with her short, panicky gasps. Behind her, she watched as the Predator with brown tendrils was trying to help lift his green, grizzly-faced companion from off the ground. Careful not to touch the broken arm he was nursing, the green one gladly accepted his help and they both stepped aside as the burliest of the three rushed forward with his own combi-stick.

Lex watched as he brandished the weapon and leapt fearlessly into the centre of the clearing to do battle with the Megalith. With a skill in agility she didn't know an alien his size would have, Lex used a pulsating tree behind her as her support beam as she dragged herself up slowly watching them do battle, quickly filling herself with shame. Why was she suddenly afraid to jump in and help him? She had all this combat knowledge and hunter's capability refreshed into her mind – she was dishonouring Scar's clan by being scared. The other two Predators had good enough reason for not joining in – the green one was injured and as the other tended to his injury quickly with strange instruments and fluids she'd never seen before, Lex assumed he had some sort of medical background that Predators needed. Scar's brother was still nowhere to be seen since he was struck by the Megalith's first attack.

The burly Predator lined up with the Megalith's path, ready to take the offensive role should the beast falter. Said beast, having lost Lex's scent by the trees she'd taken refuge in, not to mention the overpowering smell of blood that the other Predator was exposing as he nursed the open wound of the green Predator, shivered again. The horns on its head shook violently with anger as the Megalith roared. Everyone turned to watch as its chest opened cavity opened quickly to reveal the organ covered in boils. The burly Predator cried out before rushing forward to do combat.

"_Wait comrade!_" Lex cried as it looked like he was about to commit suicide charging head on into the beast. At the last minute when it seemed like the Megalith had picked up his movements and was ready to slice a long humanoid claw through his face, the Predator performed a spinning fly-kick and deflected the move before shooting a tiny shuriken toward its face as the spin finished. The Megalith jerked its nose and snapped its double jaws out and spat thick green acid.

Several more shuriken shot out from behind him as the Predator with brown tendrils, seemingly finished with his job aiding the green one, began lifting his arms to throw several more. The plasma charger on his shoulder was already charging for a shot.

"_This is not our kill!_" Lex heard the gargled alien accent of the green Predator beside the assaulting one. She turned to him and watched as he rose up and began lifting his hand, ready to shot a retractable net from the panel on his right wrist. His left arm was already fit into an efficient sling. "_We will do what we can, but it is your Test!_"

The words sent an ignited fire back into Lex's stomach.

"_Right!_" she called back. At the response, the green Predator quickly but quietly backed away from his partners shooting out shuriken and tried to devise a plan of sneak attack from the side of the Megalith. Washing every negative emotion she could off of her, she rose up and tried to slow down the rate of her breathing. She was wasted too much oxygen on fear. She needed to concentrate and focus.

As she observed the three Predators she realised by their battle strategies that they were trying to give her a chance to look for any sign of weakness from the Megalith. The burly one was taking the offensive, short-ranged approach, fighting the Megalith head on with combat skills and deadly knives – but failing as the Megalith bested every kick and throw with a block and liquidating any lethal tool the Predator thrust into his face. The medical one with brown tendrils was his defensive, throwing long-ranged weapons and the occasional gases and sprays he hoped would slow or wound the beast – but the Megalith seemed immune and its skin was like a shield against the bombardment. The green Predator, Lex predicted was trying a stealth attack to catch the Megalith off guard so that they could take it down with whatever problems necessary. But it took him sometime to get around the heavy debris in the clearing with one arm and he looked to her like he was slowing down.

Lex continued to analyse its weaknesses as she decided to get around and try the green one's approach. Stealth would be the best attack once the other two and worn it out. With wide eyes and a tight lip she sprinted from her place at the trees to the thick patch of moss where the green one was heading. A weird smell had been coming from it since they arrived and they both knew that if the Megalith indeed traced their movements through scent, he would have a harder time picking theirs up. As she ran, she hoped that Lean was alright – taking no time to grieve was part of the Yautja way but she wasn't sure if he had survived or not. They could've used whatever expertise in hunting he had to help Lex take down her kill. Sure, they could help her take the Megalith down for extensive knowledge and purposes of knowing what and what wouldn't kill it. But it was Lex's kill; she was taking the last blow.

Suddenly before she could react, Scar's brother appeared out of nowhere and like a whirlwind he headed straight for the clearing. Lex's eyes went wide for the umpteenth time that day as rage and confusion bubbled inside her.

"_What the HELL are you doing?_" she cried. "_Stop!_" She was almost sure a moment ago he had been dead. He seemed to want to take on his own approach with the Megalith – assault from behind.

But at the last second, before the large blade of his machete aimed to slice through the skin of its hind leg, the Megalith sensed the surprised movement. And from the spot where Lean was racing toward its torso, a long and sharp tail like a thick needle shot out from below its waistline and impaled Scar's brother. The shock was so deeply embedded in all the team members that no one said a word. Then like a rag doll, Lean was tossed aside, sliding out from the Megalith's tail and flung again across the clearing.

The burly Predator didn't even take the time to watch the Predator hit the ground before he jumped at the creature again to engage in combat. They were a sick flurry of snaps and growls that Lex was tempted to stare at them again and watch if he was strong enough to take it down. Then the Megalith's arm caught the burly Predator's hand and without hesitation or ear of another one of his weapons flying out to hit him, the Megalith brought its entire mouth down on the Predator, encasing the whole length of his head to his shoulders in a jaw nightmare.

There was a terrible slashing noise and a cry like a banshee coming from within the Megalith – Lex didn't know whether it was coming from the creature or from the Predator. When the Megalith finally released his bite on him, the burly Predator was dropped from his mouth; the only thing remaining of the courageous warrior was a bloody stump and the missing chunks of his hunting attire and shoulders.

"_Alexa!_" She turned to hear the Predator wit brown tendrils call out to her as he continued shooting weapons and gases at the Megalith, trying desperately to disorientate it. "_Enough analysing! You must DO s-!_" But suddenly a loud painful screech from the Megalith made them drop their communication, and to their knees.

Lex looked up, gripping her rod so tight she was sure her knuckles were white. The Megalith was whipping its head back and forth, scratching at the horns on its skill and shooting its double jaws in and out, in and out. If Lex didn't have a feeling, she thought maybe it was... choking?

A large, strange orange and black substance being spat into the gravel below it confirmed that belief. Maybe the Megalith didn't like the taste of Predator.

Before she could take any amusement from that moment, the Megalith was done hacking in its mouth before its horns shivered wildly and the rest of the team took it as a signal that he was ready to charge again. This time, he went for Lex again. She didn't back away and jumped away from the moss pit where the other Predators stood into a denser part of the clearing.

As a large humanoid claw flew out at her head, Lex threw up a defensive block with her rod and spun the weapon until the pointed edge was near its blind eye. The shadows of the leaves blocked out any intense sunlight from the skies above and it gave the Megalith some sight to see her through a sort of night vision. With a snap of its outer teeth, it threw down its head to her outstretched arm before she brought it down and reached quickly with her other hand for a large dagger and brought it hard into the gum line of its mouth. With an angry screech, it pulled away and gave Lex just the bit of time she needed to run around the tree behind her and make a run for the forest ahead.

She wanted to lead it as far as she could from the rest of the Predators before she could think of to kill it. Every weapon and chemical agent designed for hunting creatures like this didn't seem to work. The only thing that seemed to make any progress was the Predator it tried to chew up but hated swallowing. But she couldn't risk a Predator feeding just to get it to temporarily slow down. As she ran with short breaths, she heard the Megalith behind her moving to push debris out of the way and to try and get her. It had forgotten about the others and was excited with the chase. It was just like trying to outrun the Alien queen all over again – except this time there wasn't any frigid sinkholes and water towers to chain it to and sink with.

When it finally caught up with her, the Megalith hopped to a tree and used the extra momentum to leap and throw everything its heavy body could at her. Arms outstretched, claws brandishing, and three mouths open and ready to tear, the Megalith caught Lex by the back and swung her to the left until she couldn't find balance.

Lex's heart was ready to leap from her chest as the feeling of what felt like claws sink into her back rang in her mind. Her feet suddenly lost their sense of gravity and she was tossed into the gravel of the forest floor. Eyes watering and a loud yelp that escaped her throat, Lex made an attempt of rolling onto her side to try and get the Megalith off from behind her. In a chance of luck, it retracted its claws and hopped several metres away from her, but probably just to get a good look at its prey before it sliced and ate her through. Lex took the opportunity to quickly try and rise up to lean her upper body painfully on a large rock. She stared at the creature with pure hate.

"_You're one shot at killing this motherfucking beast and you blow it, Lex! You didn't learn a thing!_"she reprimanded herself. As she stared at the beast, Lex went to reach for every weapon and arsenal at her disposal from within her hunter's attire as she was sure this was going to be last minutes alive.

The Megalith pulled back its lips, growling lowly and revealing its outer jaw bearing the thrill and excitement of capturing her alive, ready to rip her t pieces. It bent low on its wolf legs, claw-like toes digging into the hard gravel and relishing in the preparedness of a jump attack. Its head twitched occasionally to the sound of her pulling out weapons.

Lex's breath fogged the oxygen mask so thickly that she was sure that if she didn't die from a Megalith feasting, it would be from the lack of oxygen she'd get for inhaling too much and too quickly. Reaching for shuriken, she tossed quickly and best she could toward the Megalith and its open chest cavity. It expertly dodged all of them, shivering lightly like it was some sort of easy game.

Lex didn't even get the chance to go to Ray's dance competition in Aruba; she regretted it now that she hadn't just went... not that it ever happened really since her time at home was all a lie. All of it since returning home from Antarctica had been a lie. She had never been back home on Earth, only dreamt it. She shot out nets and chemical agents by the twos until she had none left, but the creature kept standing.

Not that she had a home to go back to; everyone had probably believed she'd died with the rest of the crew on Antarctica. It made her miss her cousin more, and John, her expeditionary partner who loved going out for coffee. When the Megalith was ready to lounge on her, Lex drew forward daggers and machetes to its face but every weapon melted before she finally pulled out the last weapon, plasma cannon. But the weapon was damaged in the fall from the tree so it didn't work.

Lex was all out of options. When the Megalith drew back away from her for some moments, probably she believed, to give her a final of reflection on her life before it ripped it out of her, Lex finally let out a choked sob and let out a short but powerful scream of anguish.

She didn't want this! The just brought her here, assumed she would take this as an honour. But fuck it wasn't! She was away from family, friends, and loved ones without her knowing and now she was going to die alone and at the hands of something no one like her should have ever seen in their lifetime. It was unfair, completely unfair. And the craziest fucking bullshit she would curse even the stars for.

Doing one last hopeless check for any weapons, Lex's fingers closed up around the syringe she'd forgotten to give to Lean before the Megalith attacked. It was to help her remember memories of knowledge she'd lost about the Yautja culture and her time on the ship. Lex ripped it from her pocket and tightened her fist around it, hoping it to break in her hand. Like hell, she ever wanted to remember anything again about the damn aliens who took her and made her into a soldier for their games. She swore to never inject this chemical hormone into her skin again – let the memories of this hostile, barbaric aliens die within her brain. She would've tossed it to the side were it not for the loud and final banshee cry of the Megalith in front of her that finally had enough of waiting and leaped to kill her.

"_You know what?_" she cried angrily as the assault began to happen. "_You take it, you ugly mother-!_"

And Lex swiftly pointed the syringe up and felt it, through shut and defeated eyelids, go right into the open cavity of the Megalith. At the same time, she pressed on it and imagined its red fluid slowly being injected into its system.

Lex froze as the banshee cry of the Megalith continued; expecting already that nothing would happen when she used it on the creature. It wasn't a lethal weapon it was meant to enhance an alien's cognitive state. She probably only made it smarter and more angry. She was ready to be eaten out alive like the burly predator. Tears finally ran down her face as the thought came to life in the reality before her. Mountains she could scale, cliffs she could brave, aliens she could meet... but realising death was something not anyone could do with a completely confident stride. So she waited.

But the Megalith didn't rip at her face; instead it pulled back and stepped some ways dizzy and disorientated in front of her. It hacked like it did before, gagging and clawing at its head in pain before screeching and coughing up bile. Then in an even stranger turn of events, it fell to its knees and began to heave as if it were suffocating. Its chest cavity opened and closed like window blinds in a hurricane. Lex watched wide-eyed and raised her retractable rod out in front of her with a straight face.

'_So it wasn't the __Predator__ that made it sick,_' she thought as she remembered how they'd all injected themselves with the syringe just before the Megalith attacked and ate the burly comrade. Well, now it wasn't just getting a taste of the chemical agent – it was getting a full dose.

The Megalith buckled on its knees, throwing its head down into the ground, grinding its tube-like skull and scratching its horns trying to find an alternative source of pain to lessen the one erupting in its chest. But the burn was increasing as even Lex could see it sizzling from its back. Its jaws were all open, double jaws snapping in and out in a frenzy. The reaction was probably spreading throughout its entire exterior system and it desperately needed to get out of its shell, which explained to her why its movements were so morbid.

Then finally, the Megalith stopped screeching. It stopped moving altogether.

Lex waited for a minute or two as she watched its body sat still. With acute senses and a bettering heart, she waited for the fatal, unexpected leap that the creatures usually make in the movies. But when no such movement came after a prolonged time, she raised her rod and heaved herself over to raise it over its head. The Megalith's body was kneeling with its head to the floor, its long and thick body, leaning heavily over the forest floor. When she looked down into its open cavity, which had finally stopped opening and closing, she was astounded to see what was happening.

The terrible slab of meat that was wriggling violently from within its chest cavity suddenly fell out of the Megalith's body. Its outer shell cracked and hissed and the double jaws from its mouth, retracted slowly like death creeping back to pull it in.

Lex would've stabbed the creature through the organ and ended it right then and there had it not been for the strange movement coming from the exposed meat that had fallen from the Megalith.

The effects of the syringe began to form on several boils covering the swollen organ. Lex watched terrified as the blood red flesh began to grow spotted with dark greens blotches. Like a cancer, it spread everywhere and all over, carrying with it a disease that would hopefully infect and kill whatever kept moving inside it. Then, a boil popped and as the ooze drained away from it and down into the dry gravel of the forest floor, a hole appeared... and then more, until there were so many boils popped and open that the flesh of the organ began to stretch and decay and ripped apart.

Lex turned around willed herself not to spit up bile from the show. She couldn't take off her oxygen mask – she'd drown in her own vomit before she even got the chance to kill whatever lived inside it. As she looked away and tried to get her mind off the sickening decay that was happening in front of her, she wondered what sort of token she would walk away with from the fallen Megalith. Much like the Aliens that the Predators hunted on Earth, she needed to retrieve a piece of the kill as her trophy.

But she couldn't reach toward the decaying corpse as a strange infection continued to grow around, she thought perhaps then it was best to leave it for dead and return later with the rest of the Predators so they could see her work.

Then, suddenly a terrible shrill of a scream erupted from beneath her, and all thoughts whatsoever flew from Lex's mind. With her senses and fear rocketing to the sky, she quickly leaped and sprinted some ways from the body, clutching her retractable rod ready to use it like a serial killer with meat cleaver.

The scream was so loud and terrible, not as terrible as the banshee cry of the Megalith, but enough to make Lex believe that maybe now there was a second Megalith offspring forming within the cavity. She raised her rod and through teary eyes, she shook violently ready to the strike it through.

"_HELP! HELP!_"

Whatever was in there, it spoke _Yautja._

Lex said nothing but froze in her assault. Suddenly a hand shot through the broken flesh of the Megalith's organ. It looked humanoid but had small black claws like the...

"OOH JESUS NO!" Lex screamed and without thinking she dropped her rod and reached for the hand to pull. What irrational, idiotic, dumbass idea was she thinking – aliens and anything that wanted to kill you were known to usually mimic and pretend to ask for help. For all she knew, the hand was attached to a new breed of Megalith that was smarter, uglier, and more lethal. Her head would be ripped off the moment she came face to face with...

A mark.

There was a mark on the creature's forehead, something she distinctly saw as its yellowing head was pulled through the flesh. It had black vine-like tendrils for hair and mandibles that clicked furiously in fear and stress. But though the body was very slim for lack of food and physical exertion, Lex couldn't deny it.

It was Scar.

**Epilogue.**

* * *

><p>Space still looked black and empty and lonely as ever.<p>

Lex once could stare for hours and not find any of the warmth or magic that scholars and dreamers imagined beyond the vessel's window. Perhaps it was just her lack of interest for anything without purpose or maybe because she never really took much time to indulge herself with a few good sci-fi books. That was before.

Now, when Lex stares out beyond the space vessel's window, the expanse is so large and mystifying that she feels incredibly small and insignificant compared to something that holds a much greater importance in her life. The starlight that seemed so far became reminders of planet life and faraway travelers that know more about the universe than she ever thought any human would. Finally, she feels honoured to be the only one of her species to see beyond the expanse. It is a gift, but a gift she is willing to give up nonetheless.

After she placed the retractable rod back into the hand of the Chief warrior, Lex knelt down and gave him the _Yautja_ salute.

"_Alexa Wood,_" he said slowly. The rest of the Predator hunters, who were present at her arrival, training, and the three who had survived during the mission, were in the room with them. Scar stood beside her and on his left, and miraculously, his older brother Lean, who had survived being impaled by the Megalith's tail. They may have lost two other Yautja in the mission but with grief set aside, it was a success. They waited patiently for the Chief's speech.

"_...Well done._"

Lex lifted her head to stare at him. She'd expected more from his formal self but, it was good enough. When he regarded with nothing else but the slow tilt of his head and a soft trill, she smiled and inwardly sighed with relief.

Rising up from her kneel, she stepped forward before turning on her heel to give all the other Yautja one final bow of respect. As some of them returned it with a fist gesture or low mutter thanks, Lean was the first to finally speak up.

"_Are you sure you wouldn't want to stay amongst us, Lex?_" he asked with little hint of emotion but curiosity. "_You have proven yourself. You are one of our clan now. You are accepted._"

Lex shook her head firmly but gave him a genuine smile.

"_And I'll always remember and honour that,_" she replied. "_But I've had my run. I get to make the final choice... And I think it was time I went home._"

The other Yautja talked softly amongst themselves in response to Lex's reply; she was about to comment on some of their views when Scar stepped forward.

"_You will be missing out on many adventures, Lex,_" he said in his deep tone. Amusement tickled his eyes as he rolled his shoulder in a gesture of scoffing. "_Scared?_"

Lex scoffed herself and gave him a smirk.

"_Hell no. After being around __you__, I think I'm ready to face anything._"

Scar made a loud trill in the back of his throat and watched with the rest of the Predators as Lex stepped up toward the Chief and watched as he poured water over the rod. It glowed bright green like the night she thought she'd tossed it into the river and hummed alive with a strong energy that told Lex it was time.

"_You will always be one of the clan. Remember that,_" the Chief said, and with an enveloping of bright light, she was gone.

Lex doubted that she would ever see them again, but she didn't ever regret the memories of meeting Scar, his brother, or their species.

But she could now put it all behind her. She was going home.

END.

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><p>Author's Note:<p>

Well thank you for reading everyone! I hope you enjoyed this little idea of mine that, with the help and encouragement of fellow readers, blossomed from a one-shot into a full-blown multi-chapter fanfiction. It's amazing how something so insignificant can stretch into something worthwhile. I'm glad I stuck with it long enough to finish it.

Sorry for missed grammar/spelling errors, and if there were parts during the fanfiction that seemed to drag on or cut short; due to my laziness and inability to really crackdown on my writer's block, especially with the start of school looming just around the corner, it was tough but I hope I got my general idea across... (To GrayHuntress: sorry I couldn't incorporate your help on the knowledge of infrared vision; Discarding the helmets from the final battle made for shorter execution time of the Megalith and description of Lex's experience – but I'm still thankful you took time to explain it all to me!)

A part I wanted to add in the story to sum up how Scar seemingly survived (because he was AWESOME in the movie, you think I'd just let him die and not be a part of his own story? Hell no! xD) unfortunately was cut out because the last chapter was already freaking long. But for the sake of sharing, it was supposed to be explained by the Chief when they returned from killing the Megalith:

"_You seemed dead to us, young one,_" he began with a firm grip on Scar's shoulder. "_The alien inside you looked to have eaten you out; but it had grown a hybrid. We could not risk detection form any other clan or Prey in the system. We had to dispose of it. We thought this planet would do the job... since the oxygen of your world seemed to have sustained. We... didn't know you had been enclosed in the Megalith's biology._"

_Lex stared at him unblinking, still shocked with the fact that Scar was still amazingly alive, and trying to absorb it. Maybe, it was a sign after all to see him in her recurring dream._

Special thanks aside to the power of coffee, my IPod's ridiculously strange assortment of rock/pop, and movie soundtracks, and my laptop Lenny for not dying during the 6 straight hrs I sat engrossed with this story. Other than that, the power of imagination and willpower to sit down, shut up, and write was my mistress.

So thank you all so much for reading! This is probably my first and final AvP fic that I will write for months or ever because nothing else comes to mind. But I thank you for reading and for the all the favourite and story alerts I have received over the weeks! Be sure to check in with me once in a while – who knows, I may surprise you with a new fanfiction. But until then, thanks again and stay golden.

_Much love and happy readings, Abby~_


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